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Dragonheart [HD DVD]

Dragonheart [HD DVD]Director: Rob Cohen
Actors: Dennis Quaid, David Thewlis, Pete Postlethwaite, Dina Meyer, Jason Isaacs
Studio: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Category: DVD

List Price: $19.98
Buy New: $2.48
as of 11/27/2009 22:10 CST details
You Save: $17.50 (88%)


New (13) Used (6) Collectible (1) from $2.48

Seller: movietronix
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars 5 reviews
Sales Rank: 16493

Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: HD DVD
Region: 0
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 103 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 5.3 x 0.5

MPN: HD61101160
UPC: 025195009898
EAN: 0025195009898
ASIN: B000O179F4

Theatrical Release Date: May 31, 1996
Release Date: May 29, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
Universal DragonHeart - HD-DVD
In medieval England, Bowen, a gallant dragonslayer, comes upon Draco, the last dragon on Earth (who can talk). In a scheme that keeps Draco alive and earns money for Bowen, thedragon terrorizes a town, and Bowen "kills" him to earn a reward. In the process, the two become close friends. But when King Einon, the evil ruler of the land, goes one step too far, Bowen and Draco-- both of whom have been betrayed by the despot in the past -- set out to defeat him. However, years ago the noble Draco gave half his heart to Einon in order to save the ruler's life. Therefore, ifEinon dies, so does Draco. Can Bowen find a way to kill Einon without losing his beloved, fire-breathing partner?

Amazon.com
In the closing paragraph of his 1996 review of Dragonheart, noted critic Roger Ebert summed up this adventurous fantasy quite nicely: "While no reasonable person over the age of 12 would presumably be able to take it seriously, there is nevertheless a lighthearted joy to it, a cheerfulness, an insouciance, that recalls the days when movies were content to be fun." That's precisely the quality that makes Dragonheart so appealing, despite the fact that it didn't exactly take flight and breathe fire at the box office. The movie takes itself seriously without sacrificing the wit and cleverness that make it so entertaining. It's about the last of the great dragon slayers, Bowen (Dennis Quaid), who teams up with the last of the great dragons, Draco (and voiced by Sean Connery), after they realize that killing each other would put them both out of business! So they devise a bogus dragon-slaying act that's a huge hit as they tour from village to village. Later, they must rouse the peasantry against the loutish Prince Einon (David Thewlis), whose life was once saved by Draco, but who now violates the "Old Code" of honor with a ruthless reign of terror. As Ebert rightly noted, Dragonheart is no masterpiece, and its story (which was originally conceived as a darker, more serious drama) isn't likely to capture everyone's heart (dragon or otherwise). But it's full of exciting action, witty dialogue, and gallant heroism, and in the presentation of a realistic talking dragon it's a milestone in computer-generated special effects, far surpassing the breakthroughs of Jurassic Park three years earlier. --Jeff Shannon.

Customer Reviews:
5 out of 5 stars Dragon Heart   October 17, 2009
Andrea K. Stramara (Fort Myers, FL)
One of my favorite movies that I was able to add to my collection of fantasy movies. It is a movie for all the family to enjoy over and over.


5 out of 5 stars Enjoyable Movie   April 20, 2009
planecrazy (Indiana)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

I really liked this movie. I think it is a great family movie that all can enjoy. It is about the world's last Dragon (voice provided by Sean Connery) what is not to like?


4 out of 5 stars A fantasy movie with HEART.   January 19, 2008
Jason Weyandt (Space: The Final Frontier)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This is an old fashioned knight and dragon fairy tale with a twist. I love this movie because of its original plot and entertaining scenes. As far as the transfer WOW. This is an older movie and yet it looks great. I have a somewhat large collection of Blu and HD's and I have to admit that the transfer was well done. The picture is clear, the colors are vibrant and the Dolby Digital Plus-loud with very low amounts of unwanted noise. If your into a fantasy movie with dragons, that still is light-hearted enough for the family this is the way to go. A+ for the Movie, A for the Transfer.


3 out of 5 stars Not a lot of heart in this   October 11, 2007
The No Evil Killer (Everywhere, Anywhere, Nowhere)
3 out of 6 found this review helpful

There was so much potential in the premise for Dragonheart. It could have been taken many steps further if the production team and writers genuinely cared about the film that they were making. Unfortunately, they weren't and could only be bothered in hashing together a quick and easy movie with no substance. I'm not sure what the pitch was to Universal but it seems like a bunch of C-list producers and writers felt like making Braveheart...for kids. Only with a Dragon instead of William Wallace.

The plot is so simplistic that it really could be accurately summed up as 'bad king nasty to villagers, knight and dragon help'. Whoa, slow down, man. I don't think I can comprehend so much in a small space of time. Rob Cohen is hardly an artistic director but the action and framing are below even his meagre standards. There are some nice shots here and there but the rest of the film looks incredibly fake thanks to the truly terrible production design.

When you take away all of that, all you are left with is a film with a CGI dragon. But in the 11 years since this was released the standard of such effects has improved drastically. Draco the Dragon looks just a little bit too dated, though he is still as cute and lovable as he always was.

The problems with the film extend even to the extras. It's bad enough that such talented actors are given such rotten dialogue to work with (why none of them requested to tweak it a little bit is beyond me) but I am assuming that no one bothered to give the villagers in the background any instructions before rolling. You have no idea how distracting it is.

Another potential thrown away is the religious element. I guess that no one involved in making the film wanted to offend any kind of faith and erased as much religion from the film as possible. It doesn't even clarify that it's set in Britain either. There are some flippant remarks to Camelot (conviniently just a few miles down the road from any point on the map) but almost the whole film was shot in Romania and the accents are all over the place, as usual.

The one, major, plus-point of the movie is Randy Edelman's glorious score. It's the only decent score he's ever composed in his entire career but it's simply amazing. Well worth hunting down the CD for, I assure you.

Dragonheart is just too tame and tepid to make any kind of lasting impression. There too many faults to forgive. It's better than Eragon, but nowhere near the beauty of Dragonslayer.

The HD-DVD presents the film in 2.35:1 1080p widescreen with Dolby Digital Plus sound. Extras from the ordinary DVD are ported over.


4 out of 5 stars HD-DVD version   June 22, 2007
P. Svensen (Alice Springs, Australia)
18 out of 20 found this review helpful

Okay folks, I am guessing you have seen this movie as it is quite a few years old now so I will not bother going into the details of it. If you wish to know more about the plot then check it out on imdb.

The big question is, how did it fare being transfered to HD-DVD? Well to sum it up I would say brilliantly. The video transfer is crisp and detailed, it does suffer a tad with film artifacts but this is the best we are ever going to see it that is for sure.

The audio transfer is absolutely superb.

You want HD-DVD? Well this is as good as it gets for this title.



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